BOSTON -- The lawyers representing James “Whitey” Bulger have told the magistrate judge currently overseeing the reputed mobster’s case that – like it or not – they are going to need a lot more time to review and analyze the “tsunami’s worth of discovery” produced by the prosecution.

In fact, Bulger defense attorneys J.W. Carney Jr. and Henry B. Brennan wrote in court papers that their legal team will require at least another year before they will even be in a position to move forward with substantive motions.

“For the prosecution to suggest that the case is ready to be sent to the District Judge to set a trial date is so unreasonable that it is frivolous,” they wrote. “There will be a trial in this case, and the defense must be fully prepared to contest the government’s evidence.”

BOSTON -- Federal prosecutors have told family members of at least two people they say were killed by James "Whitey" Bulger that Bulger's longtime companion, Catherine Greig, could possibly enter a plea deal next week in connection with weapons and aiding and abetting charges, NewsCenter 5 has learned.

Steve Davis, whose sister Debbie Davis was found strangled and mutilated in a mass grave, said he was told that Greig "was making a deal."

Officials allege Debbie Davis was killed by Bulger and his compatriot Steven "the Rifleman" Flemmi.

Tom Donahue, the son of Michael Donahue who Bulger is accused of killing, also said he was told Greig was working with investigators.

Stress-related health concerns voiced today by mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s lawyer have a federal judge questioning whether she needs to appoint a new public defender for the accused serial killer with just six months to go before his trial begins.
Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. assured U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler this afternoon he is not trying to beg off the case, but he did tell her he will seek a postponement next month of Bulger’s highly anticipated November trial for the murders of 19 women and men. Despite his best efforts to prepare, Carney said he is “overwhelmed” by a workload that has become “impossible” to navigate.
The alleged victims’ families aren’t buying it.

Prosecutors will ask a judge to sentence the longtime girlfriend of mobster James "Whitey" Bulger to more prison time than federal sentencing guidelines recommend for helping him elude authorities for 16 years.

Helping mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger elude authorities for 16 years while he was one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world will cost Catherine Greig eight years behind bars, a federal judge said Tuesday.

I work with at least 2 people who were affected by Bulger and his crew. A fellow officer lost his aunt to them (murdered). A civilian lost a sister to them (murdered). Fucking animals. Screw Catherine Greig........

In a legal double-barreled blockbuster, James “Whitey” Bulger not only won a delay of his trial today — to March 4 — but he is arguing the entire case against him should be dismissed because he was granted immunity long ago.
The judge called the delay in the case a compromise but warned there will be no more delays. Bulger’s trial for the murders of 19 men and women was previously set for Nov. 5. Federal prosecutors said today the trial will last about three months.
As for the request for immunity, Bulger’s lawyer says the feds knew he was a mobster as far back as the 1970s — and never moved to get him.

BOSTON — Former Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger will take the stand in his own defense when he goes on trial next year on charges that he participated in 19 murders, testifying about his claim that he was given immunity, his attorney said Monday.

Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said in court that Bulger will testify about his claim that he was given immunity for any crimes he committed while he was a top-echelon FBI informant against the Mafia. “James Bulger will testify at this trial and he will present evidence, corroborated by others, that he received immunity from the Department of Justice,” Carney said.

Carney had said he planned to file a motion to dismiss the charges against Bulger based on his immunity claim. But he said he no longer plans to file such a motion because Bulger believes he can get a fairer hearing from a jury on the immunity claim than he can from the judge who is to preside at his trial.

Carney had unsuccessfully tried to have U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns recused from the March 2013 trial because Stearns was a top federal prosecutor in the 1980s, when Bulger allegedly was committing crimes with impunity while also acting as an informant. The defense has said Stearns — who was head of the U.S. Attorney’s criminal division during part of the 1980s — would try to shield his former colleagues and could not be impartial.

Stearns has said he would not step down. In a written order last month, he said he had no doubt about his ability to remain impartial, noting he was never involved in the prosecution of a case in which Bulger was a subject or target. Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, fled Boston in 1994 after receiving a warning through his former FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. Bulger, now 82, was captured last year in Santa Monica, Calif., after 16 years on the run. Carney said in court that it was not the FBI who gave Bulger immunity, but he would not identify who within the Department of Justice allegedly made him such a promise.

Carney told reporters that Bulger “is going to tell the truth ... about why he was able to spend 30 years allegedly committing a whole host of crimes” and was not prosecuted for any of them until the 1990s. “You will hear James Bulger testify about everything,” he told reporters after the hearing. During the hearing, Carney sparred with Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak Jr. over the pace at which prosecutors have been turning over evidence in the case as the defense prepares for the trial.

Carney said prosecutors have turned over 32,000 pages of documents during the last month, materials he claimed could have been provided to the defense a year ago, right after Bulger was arrested. In total, the government has turned over approximately 350,000 pages of discovery. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler said she was satisfied that the government is working “in a speedy and expedient fashion” to produce the discovery materials.